MODERNIZING GOVERNANCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: A Proposal that the Regents Create and Delegate Some Responsibilities to Campus Boards

Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.4.12 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY http://cshe.berkeley.edu/ MODERNIZING GOVERNANCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: A Proposal that the Regents Create and Delegate Some Responsibilities to Campus Boards Robert Birgeneau, George Breslauer, Judson King, John Wilton, and Frank Yeary 1 UC Berkeley Copyright 2012, Robert Birgeneau, George Breslauer, Judson King, John Wilton, and Frank Yeary all rights reserved. ABSTRACT The University of California (UC) needs to respond to the fundamental and ongoing changes that are occurring around it if it is to remain financially sustainable, accessible, and academically excellent. As the campuses that make up UC have matured in the past 50 years they have, rightly, developed unique strengths and challenges. The uniqueness of individual campuses has been a natural response to the increasing complexity of our world and the highly competitive nature of higher education. These differences have been compounded by the facts that a much lesser fraction of the university budget now comes from the state and that there has been a continual evolution in the missions of the university as a whole. We propose that the Regents create and delegate appropriate responsibilities to campus-based governing boards to enable more effective campus oversight and management, while retaining their university-wide policy and fiduciary responsibilities. Note: This document is intended to initiate a discussion on a serious issue - the inevitable evolution of the governance of the University of California. While considerable time has been spent in drafting this proposal, we very much welcome suggestions and comments designed to achieve our common overarching goal – that is, to create an environment within which our great public university can be put on a sustainable footing so that it may continue to provide access and excellence to as many people as possible. A. SYNOPSIS The University of California (UC) needs to respond to the fundamental and ongoing changes that are occurring around it if it is to remain financially sustainable and academically excellent. As the campuses that make up UC have matured in the past 50 years they have, rightly, developed unique strengths and challenges. The uniqueness of individual campuses has been a natural response to the increasing complexity of our world and the highly competitive nature of higher education. These differences have been compounded by the facts that a much lesser fraction of the university budget now comes from the state and that there has been a continual evolution in the missions of the university as a whole. The future for UC demands that we create a governance model that a) allows decision makers throughout the UC system to focus on the 90% of [revenues], and growing, that are not provided by the state, b) promotes local decision making so that unique strengths can be capitalized upon and local challenges nimbly and quickly addressed, c) preserves the elements of centralized oversight that will promote efficient and effective management of the system and d) brings the governing body – the Regents – closer to the individual challenges and opportunities that campuses face so that front-line decisions benefit more directly from their informed input. Thus UC, which has a rich history of devolving responsibility from the center should adopt a hybrid governance model that preserves constitutional autonomy and Regental control while empowering local action and innovation. This would strengthen the UC system as a whole and enable it to maintain, and hopefully increase, access and excellence. 1 Robert Birgeneau is Chancellor; George Breslauer is Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost; Judson King in Director, Center for Studies in Higher Education, John Wilton is Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance; and Frank Yeary is Vice Chancellor, all at the University of California, Berkeley. King is also Provost asnd Sr. Vice President, Emeritus, of the University of California.